Improvement in machinery for turning bags



f UNITED STATES wQv. can, or NEW nAvnN, coNNEcrrouT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FoR TURNING BAGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,805, dated December 4, 18.60.

To all whom, t may concern: l Be it known that I, W. V. GEE, of New I-Ia- Ven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Machine for Turning Bags; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being -had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichVM Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of the machine. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several figures.

Bags manufactured by sewing are commonly turned inside out to bringto the inside the margins which extend beyond the seams, and thereby to give the seams a neat appearance on the outside. Inv the manufacture of such bags in large quantities much time is consumed in this process, one establishment now in active operation employing several persons for this purpose alone.

My invention consists in an automatic machine by which the bags are taken from a Stack or pile, turned, and delivered much more quickly Jthan can be done by hand.

To enable-others tomake and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the framing of the machine, having at its front end a vertically-moving horizontal table B, upon which the bags are placed to be turned. This table has attached to it two vertical guide-rods B B', which work in fixed guides provided for them in the cross-pieces of the framing, and itis connected by arod C2 with a lever C, which works on a fixed fulcrum a, secured in an upright C', and which.

is loaded by a weight D in such a manner as to hold up the table with the top bag of the pile which is placed upon it close under the edge of a fixed plate E, which is secured to the framing and to lift the table up to bring the next bag up to the plate E every time the top bag is removed. The plate E is secured to an upright gage-plate F, close to which the table B works, and it projects only just far enough over the said gage-plate and the table to constitute-a stop to keep the uppermost bag of the pile always at the same elevation. The bags are placedl on thetableB with their I mouths toward the gage-plate F.

vthe sides of the framing A.

G is a frame extending entirely across .the machine above the table B, and arranged to swing upward and downward on journals or centers b h, supported in' fixed positions in To this lframe there are secured two pairs of nippers c d c d, whose duty is to sieze the upper side of. the upper bag of the pile and pick it up to open its mouth, the nippers being arranged at equal distances from the center of the machine. One jaw c of each pair of nippers, which for the sake of distinction I will call the fixed jaw, is attached rigidly to the back of the frame G, which may be termed the nipperframe, and the other jaw d of each pair is attached to the back of the flipper-frame by means of one of two pivots e e, which are secured' in the main frame.

The nippers are opened and closed by the action of the two slotted wedges H H, which are attached at their rear ends to branches of the arm I of a rock-shaft I, working in bearings in the sides of the nipper-frame, and at their front ends to two rockers M M, connected with the back 0f the Dipper-frame.

- The rock-shaft I has, outside ofthe nipperframe, an arm l, which is connected by a rod J with a forked lever J, which works on a fixed fulcrumf, and whose fork receives within it a cam. K on the main shaft L of the machine, which is arranged parallelV with the axis of vibration of the nipper-frame in suitable bearings near the rear of the main framing. This cam serves to open .and close the nippers and also to raise and lower the nipper-frame, which is prevented descending lower than just sufficient to .permit the nip. pers to take hold of the upper side of the'uppermost bag by means of stop-screws g g, one on each side of the nipper-frame. These screws screw into the nipper-frame and come into contact with suitable resting-places on the main framing A, and by screwingvthem up or down the nipper-frame and the'nippers are permitted to fall lower or not so low. The adjustment by these screws must be very exact, as the nippers must not. take up the bag entirely, but only the single thickness of cloth which constitutes one side thereof. I

The extremities of the nippers are serrated or made with fine sharp but short teeth in order that they may gather up the cloth by y the movement of the jaws d toward their respective fixed jaws c c; but the said teeth e eases should be so beveled that they will pass freely overthe cloth in the movement of the jaws CZ CZ away from their respective fixed jaws.

The nipper-frame is connected by a rod h with a spring 7L, that is secured to the fraining A for the purpose of drawing it down under the control of the cam K to bring the ends of the nippers into contact with the bags. The nippers are closed by the action of the cam K on the lower prong of the fork Y of the lever J, which causes the said lever to lift the rod J and the arm I3 of the rockshaft I, and so to throw forward the arm l of the rock-shaft and make it draw forward the wedgesl-l H and bring the jaws d CZ up to the jaws c c, thereby causing the nippers to take hold of the cloth.

Up to the timeof the closing of the nippers the nipper-frame does not rise; but as soon as the nippers have closed and no further movement of the wedges is permitted the continued action of the cam upon the arm I3 .causes the nipper-frame and all its appurtenances to rise, and the nippers are thus made to pick up the upper side of the bag, which they draw from under the edge of the plate E, leaving the lower side of the bag under the said plate, and consequently opening Vthe mouth of the bag, as illustrated in Fig. l, where, as well as in the other iigures, the bags are represented in blue color. The opening of the nippers is not effected again till the cam has moved far enough to have let the nipper-frame drop down again, when a projection i on one side of the cam acts upon the upper prong of the fork of the lever J to pull .the arm I3 of the rock-shaftl and throw back the arm I and the wedges H H, which then act to open the nippers preparatory to the main body of the cam coming again into operation on the lower prong of the fork of the lever, as before described.

The above operation is performed once during each revolution of the main shaft L.

N is a bar, which I call the extender-bar, of sufficient length to reach all across the machine and attached to a long lever O, which is arranged to swing in a direction parallel with the planes of vibration of the nipperframe G toward and from the back of the table B, the fulcrum of said lever being a rock-'shaft j arranged in bearings near the bottom of the machine. To this bar N there are attached by fulcrum-pins k k two levers P P, which Icall -extenders, whose duty itis to enter the mouths. of the bag while it is held open by the nippers c CZ, extend the mouths, take the bags from the table, and act in combination with the turning-grippers Z m Z fm, hereinafter described, for the purpose of turning the bags. These extenders, which work nearly horizontally on, their fulcra have their front ends-that is to say, the ends toward the table B-deep enough in a vertical direction to keep the bag open wide enough for the entry thereinto of the turning-grippers. Each extenderhassecured to one sideof it, near its front end, anupright stud n, and each has secured at its rear end an upright stud 1J.

The studs p p are acted upon by two springs I pose of running against two double inclined guide-pieces Q Q, secured rigidly to the nipper-frame G, to cause the approach of the extenders sufficiently near each other to enter the mouths of the bags.

To the inner face of each extender there is attached a pair of what I call smootheners q fr, whose duty it is to smooth or take the wrinkles out of the bags asthey are drawn inside out. Each pair of smootheners consists of a lower jaw q attached rigidly to its respective extender and an upper jaw r, pivoted by a pin r to its respective extender. These jaws are flat faced and have their faces parallel and nearly horizontal, and the upper ones have springs s s applied to them in such a manner as to press them not too forcibly down toward the jaws q q.

The operation ofthe extenders is eifectedA by means of a crank-pin t, secured to the cam K, or otherwise carried by the shaft L, said crank-pin being connected by a rod R with a long lever R, which works on a fixed fulcrum u- (see Fig. l) near the front of the machine, and which is connected by a rod R2 with the lever O. The movement of the lever O effected by this crank and system of connections causes the extender-bar and extenders to move forward toward and retire from .the table once during every'revolution of the main shaft, and as they advance the studs 'n n of the extenders are caused to pass between the rearward inclinations 6 6 (see Fig. 3) of the edges of the guide-pieces Q Q, and so caused to be drawn together; but'as soon as the said studs pass the most prominent points 7 7 of the said guide-pieces, which is j ust as the front ends of the extenders are ,entering the mouth of the bag which has been opened by the nippers c CZ the extenders begin to move apart, and after the extenders have entered farenough into the bag thestuds n n pass the forward ends of the guide-pieces Q Q and allow the springs p p to throw the extenders apart. The extenders, as they thus fly apart, draw hard enough on the upper part of the bag to draw it out of the nippel-s, and after this has been effected they continue their advance far enough to draw the lower edge of the mouth from under the edge of the plate E, after which they retire with the bag. In moving backward their studs n n escape the guide-pieces Q Q, owing to the latter having been raised above them with the nipper-frame G, the latter not being dropped again till the bag has been drawn completely clear of the table. The turning-grippers Zm Z m, before menL toward the vtable B as the extenders move backward from it, and viceversa. The bars S S are curved in the form of arcs concentric with the rock-shaft o, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower jaws Z Z of the turning-grippers are pivoted to the bars S S by pivots w w, (see Fig. 3,) on which they are capable of a movement toward and from each other; but

springs or fr are applied to them in such a man-l ner as to tend to throw them outward as far as permitted by stops at the extremities of the bars S S, which is not so far as to prevent them both entering the bag together. The movement that is permitted on the pivots w w is to permit the grippers to pass freely between the extenders. The upper jaws m m are pivoted to their respective lower jaws Z by the pins z z, on which they make their opening-and-closing movement, and springs 10 10 are applied to close them. The rear margin of the stationary plate E, whose front end projects over the table B, is beveled off to a thin edge, but not sharp enough to cut cloth, and it is so situated as to enterbetween the jaws Z m of the turninggrippers as the latter complete their forward movement, and so to force open the said jaws.

At the upper part of the extreme rear of the machine there is secured to the framing a transverse bar U, to which there are firmly attached two wedges lV V, which are so adjusted that their points will enter between the jaws Zm of the turning-grippers as the latter complete their backward movement, and so force apart and open the said jaws. The grippers, moving forward into the bag as it is carried back by the extenders in an open condition, meet the bottom of the 'bag just as they varrive at the rear edge of the stationary plate E, and as they are opened by the entrance between them of the said plate the latter turns the bottom inward between them. As they return and slip off the said plate, they draw off the bag therefrom with the so-turned portion between them, and are closed tightly upon it, as shown in Fig. l, by their springs l0 l0. In the act of turning in the bottom of the bag between the grippers the bag is drawn back a little way on the extenders, butnotfar enough to prevent thelatterholdin g its mouth as they advance simultaneouslywith the retreat of the grippers, such retreat drawing the bottom of the bag right through the interior of the bag and between the smootheners q r, and so turning it completely in side out. Just before the turning of the bag is completed, the studs n n of the extenders come in contact with the inclined edges 6 6 of the iixed guides Q Q, and are so -forced toward each other to liberate the mouth of the bag, the turning of which is completed, by its being drawn through the smootheners q r. l.After the turning has been completed the grippers are opened by coming onto the wedges V V,

and the bag being liberated, drops from the machine onto the door or on a suitable receptacle. The smootheners are opened by the forward passage of the turning-grippers through them and are kept open by the bars S S and the grippers until the latter have passed out of them in their retreat, when they (the smootheners) close upon the turned portion of the bag. The movement of the extenders toward each other, by which they are made to liberate the one bag, brings them to a condition to enter the bag to be next turned, whose mouth is held open in readiness to receive them by the nippers c CZ c- CZ.

Whatl claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A machine for turning bags, composed of or containing the following three principal elements, viz: iirst, a device for opening the mouth of the bag; second, a device for extending and keeping extended the mouth of the bag 5 third, a device for entering and seizing the bottom while the mouth is extended and drawing the bottom through the entire length of the bag, the whole operating in combination with each other, substantially as herein described.

2. The use of smootheners, applied and operating substantially as herein described, in combination with the devices for extending the mouth and the device for drawing the bottom through the interior of the bag for the purpose of taking the wrinkles out of the bag as it is turned.

3. The arrangement of the nipper-frame Gr and nippers c CZ c d, in combination with the rising table B and the plate F, substantially as herein described.

4. The arrangement of the extender-bar N and extenders P P, to operate in combination with the nipper-frame G and nippers c CZ c CZ, substantially as herein specified.y

5. The arrangement of the turninggrippers Zm Zm, to operate in combination with the extender-bar N and extenders P P, substantially as herein set forth.

6. The plate E, applied in combination with l the turning-grippers, substantially as and for the purpose herein speciiied.

7. The wedges V V, applied in combination with the turning-grippers, substantiallyas and for the purpose herein set forth.

W. V. GEE. Witnesses:

O. B. PARSONS, R. FITZGERALD. 

